The Tigers have designated 31-year old righty swinging 1B/DH Brad Eldred for assignment. Eldred played in 5 games for the Tigers this year and he was 3 for 16 (.188 avg, .610 OPS) with 1 run scored and 1 RBI. The Tigers have activated 26-year old righty swinging outfielder Delmon Young off the restricted list to replace Eldred on the roster. Young has played in 18 games for the Tigers so far this year and he is 16 for 66 (.242 avg, .644 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 1 homer and 5 RBIs.

UPDATE: (5/6/2012) - Brad Eldred has cleared waivers and he has accepted an outright assignment from the Tigers to AAA.

The Tigers have signed 29-year old righty swinging outfielder Jeff Frazier to a minor league deal. Frazier has played in 34 games in Mexico for Reynosa and he was 35 for 128 (.273 avg, .702 OPS) with 18 runs scored, 3 homers, 14 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Frazier’s only major league experience came back in 2010 for the Tigers when he played in 9 games and was 5 for 23 (.217 avg, .511 OPS) with 3 runs scored and 1 RBI. He could help the Tigers at some point in 2012 if he gets off to a good start in the minors.

20-year old righty swinging 3B Nick Castellanos came into this season as the Tigers’ #2 prospect according to Baseball America. He has played in 23 games in A-ball so far this year for the Tigers and he is 37 of 92 (.402 avg, .939 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 1 homer, 16 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Castellanos has now played in 165 games in his first three years in the minors and he is 203 of 623 (.326 avg, .830 OPS) with 83 runs scored, 8 homers, 95 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. It will be interesting to see if the Tigers keep Castellanos at 3B in the future with Miguel Cabrera blocking him in Detroit.

27-year old righty starting pitcher Max Scherzer is off to a really tough start in 2012. He has started 5 games for the Tigers so far this year and he is 1-3 with a 7.77 ERA and a 2.06 WHIP. Scherzer has given up 37 hits and he has walked 13 batters already in his first 24 1/3 innings this year, but he does have 27 strikeouts. Scherzer has now pitched in 69 games (all starts) in his first three years with the Tigers and he is 28-23 with a 4.19 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP. The Tigers know that Scherzer is a slow starter, so they aren’t likely that worried about him right now.

26-year old righty swinging LF/DH Delmon Young has been suspended for 7 days retroactively for the incident April 27th at the New York Hilton. He will be eligible to return to the lineup on Friday, if manager Jim Leyland decides to play him. Young has played in 18 games for the Tigers this year and he is 16 for 66 (.242 avg, .644 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 1 homer and 5 RBIs. He has been his usual impatient self at the plate this year as he has whiffed 15 times this year while only walking 4 times. It will be interesting to see how the Tigers handle Young, who has had anger management problems in the past.